He was an encyclopedia of traditions...

He was an encyclopedia of traditions, jurisprudence, the explanation (of the Koran), language, literature, and theology. Jabir asked Imam Mohammed al-Baqir, peace be on him, about Zayd.

He, peace be on him, replied: “You asked me about a man who is full of belief and knowledge from the ends of his hair to his foot.”[^13] He, peace be on him, said: “Indeed Zayd was given abundant knowledge.”[^14] Zayd talked about his vast knowledge and education when he prepared himself to lead the community and to revolt against the Umayyad government.

He said: ”By Allah, I did not go out nor did I make this uprising of mine till I have read the Koran, mastered the religious duties, have command of the sunna (the Prophet's practices), and morals, known the interpretation as I have known the Koran, understood the abrogating (verse) and the abrogated, the specific and general, the clearly defined and the ambiguous, and the necessary needs of the community.

Indeed I know my Lord clearly.”[^15] Surely Zayd was among the most prominent jurists and among the greatest reporters of tradition. He learned his knowledge from his father, Imam Zayn al-‘Abidïn, peace be on him, and from his brother, Imam al-Baqir, peace be on him, who split open knowledge as his grandfather, the Apostle, may Allah bless him and his family, said. They fed him with all kinds of knowledge.

Moreover, he learned from them the principles and branches of the thought and the explanation (of the Koran). Thus, he was among the first-class figures in his outstanding merits and knowledge. Al-Shahristani thought that Zayd studied under Wasil b. ‘Ata' and learned al-i‘tizal (seclusion) from him. He said: “He (Zayd) wanted to know the principles and the branches to be endowed with knowledge, so he learned the principles from Wasil b. ‘Ata', the head of the Mutazilites.

Worth mentioning, Wasil b. ‘Ata' thought that Zayd's grandfather, ‘Ali b. Abï Talib, peace be on him, was not sure of correctness during his battles against the of the Camel and the Syrians and that one of the two parties was wrong. For this reason, Zayd learned al-i‘tizal (seclusion) from him.”[^16] This idea is incorrect, for Zayd did not take his religious knowledge from Wasil. Rather he learned it from his father and his brother, who enlightened the scientific intellectual life of Islam.